Viktor: Heart of Her King by Julia Mills

beautiful and endlessly priceless.
    It had been called love...infatuation...passion. She’d heard it referred to as devotion and more often than not—soul mates. But those were just words. Letters put together in a predetermined order to convey information. They were nothing when compared to the feelings that filled her very soul as his eyes met hers.
    There was no mistake, no going back, life would never be the same. It had been there all along and she'd almost missed it. Almost missed the chance to experience something so perfect, so monumental, that Kat would be rendered completely transformed, better than her original self. Now, all she had to do was reach out and hold tight because everything was about to change.
    Regrettably, she’d put her work ahead of all else. Had been unwilling or afraid to acknowledge the mystical existence of the connection she could have if she just took a chance. In all actuality, Kat had thought she had all the time in the world to come to terms with her dreams, her feelings...with Viktor.
    Now, she was sitting in a bathroom in what she figured was an abandoned house with a mad man, praying for a miracle. Kat wondered if she would ever see Viktor again. She squeezed the hair tie in her fist. If she concentrated hard enough she could feel Viktor’s arms around her. Feel their hearts beating as one.
    A whisper floated across her mind, “Katarina...Kata...”
    A loud knock at the door broke the spell then came her kidnapper’s arrogant voice. “You can’t hide in there all day, Katarina. Nor can you contact your mate with your bond. I have wards placed all over this home. Come out. Let’s have a chat.”
    My mate? Wards? Yeah, this guy’s ducks don’t waddle in a row.
    One deep breath later, Kat opened the door and marched right past the bastard without so much as a glance. Ignoring him wouldn’t change her situation but it made her feel better, and that was all that mattered. He’d turned on the lights to make it easy for her to see the food on the small table under the window. It looked like a tea party instead of a last meal. Maybe the psycho was telling the truth. Maybe she would live to see another day. Stranger things had happened. She was living that fact right now.
    “Stop thinking so hard, Katarina. I promised no harm would come to you and I meant it. Now, sit down and eat. You have to be famished after sleeping an entire day away.”
    Kat froze. A whole day? She’d lost a whole day? How was that even possible? Those must’ve been some good drugs they knocked her out with. Sitting down in the chair her captor was holding out for her, Kat wondered exactly what rabbit hole she’d fallen down. Nothing was as it appeared.
    It all seemed simple in its inception. Go to London, make the deal, go home. Easy peasy. Wow, had she been wrong. Not only was her heart involved in ways she’d never imagined but Kat was an honest to goodness kidnap victim. The only bright side was her captor hadn’t taken one of those awful Polaroids with her holding a newspaper in front of her tear-stained face as proof of life.
    Blurting out a random thought as it floated through her mind, Kat asked, “What time is it?”
    “Almost six a.m. The sun will be coming up shortly.” He looked out the window while sipping his tea, as if they were we old friends having a nosh.
    Bells and whistles sounded in her head. Her intuition was screaming for her to pay attention. She’d been in this situation with this man sometime before... sort of . Trying with all her might to figure out where she knew her captor from, Kat just stared.
    Turning to face her, the bastard set down his mug and returned her stare. Raising a single eyebrow, he asked, “Figure it out yet?”
    His voice was mocking. He knew something she didn’t and was holding it over her and that pissed Kat off more than being a prisoner. Doing her level best to hide her frustration, Kat answered, “No.”
    If possible, his gaze intensified. The